Generator Beat Down

"So, today's generator day, right?" I said hopefully to Henry this morning.

But of course, looking at the radar that showed the threat of another rainy afternoon we had to go off and do groceries, or risk needing to eat out for the next day or so. Off we took ourselves to Pueblo and the fish market to fill our bags with all that we could carry.

The Pueblo grocery store by Crown Bay is pretty grungy by most standards and it doesn't carry some of the more unusual items we are looking for, like pickled ginger, but it is within walking distance and close to a little seafood restaurant that will also sell beautiful fresh fish direct to you without having to buy the entire 20lb catch. This morning snapper and sea bass were the order of the day.

Our walk is quite pleasant and I snapped these as we made our way home...

The busiest portion if our walk is along Veterans Highway which is 4 lanes wide.

The lowest streets of Frenchtown are still flooded from yesterday's rain.

Frenchtown is quite residential for the most part.

Some of the "local" inhabitants scurried out of our way.

We're almost home, the marina is just around the corner at the bottom of this hill.

Ah, back to the dock, where we sit just past the gates on the left.

Ok, so back to the generator... We bought a brand new Honda 2000 generator and had it shipped in from the mainland states. Touted to be hassle free, never fail, the most reliable piece of cruising equipment you can buy, we were dumbfounded last week when we pulled it out of the box and it wouldn't start. Everyone who walked by on the dock commented on what a wonderful purchase we had made but our thought was that at that point it was less use than a cement block as an anchor. Even the service tech at Mayberry's where we purchased it was confounded.

Days have passed, the rain has fallen and the generator has sat in penance in the cockpit. Henry has threatened alternately to sing incantations and to throw it overboard, but today was the day to once again try to breath some life into the beast.

Not before we sat and chatted with Kyle though, whom we had visited Foxy's with a couple of weeks ago (has it been that long?). Both Jay and Kyle had provided suggestions of gas or WD40 shot right into the cylinder. Now, we're not giving them all the credit since I'm sure I heard a whisper of an incantation on the breeze, but suddenly the air was filled with a different sound from the dock. I poked my head out of the boat so see the biggest grin on Henry's face as the generator purred away beside him. Nothing like wet, solitary confinement to beat submission into a finely tuned piece of equipment.

You can't hear the sound of the pretty purring, but believe me, the sound of the running generator is oh so sweet!

As one final aside, it didn't rain today (yay) and the rain yesterday had the islands abuzz. 2.1" fell on St. Thomas and a record breaking (for the date) 3.6" fell on St. Croix, all between midnight and 6 pm (and it still continued to rain through the night). These are measurements we usually use for snow! (Our condolences to those up north experiencing the first hints of what is to come.)